Heretofore, there have been known a technique which records new performance information while repeatedly reproducing (i.e., loop-reproducing) existing performance information of an accompaniment or the like. Patent Literature 1 identified below, for example, discloses that a successive accompaniment pattern is reproduced by a plurality of accompaniment elements from an intro pattern to an ending pattern being reproduced sequentially and successively with a single accompaniment element reproduced in a looped fashion as necessary. Patent Literature 1 also discloses that, in response to a user turning on a recording switch and then executing desired performance operations during playback or reproduction of the accompaniment pattern, for example, during reproduction of the intro pattern, input elements based on key events corresponding to the performance operations are recorded into a recording area. The input elements thus recorded in the recording area are merged into a reproduction area of the currently reproduced intro pattern, and upon completion of the reproduction of the intro pattern, the merged input elements are reproduced following the intro pattern. In this way, the accompaniment pattern can be reproduced and recorded with all of the accompaniment elements connected together, and an accompaniment pattern just as imaged by the user can be created with no break in a series of musical connections from the “intro pattern” to the “ending pattern” and with no break in a performance groove or ride.
With the technique disclosed in Patent Literature 1, however, the user cannot create a new accompaniment pattern while listening to a previously-created accompaniment pattern by imparting a user-desired musical modification to the previously-created accompaniment pattern, through repeated trials and errors, to thereby supplement the previously-created accompaniment pattern. Further, in recording a user's performance, the use has to execute desired performance operations after turning on the recording switch, and thus, a not-so-good performance too may be undesirably recorded; that is, recording only a good performance cannot be done with ease.
Patent Literature 2 identified below discloses an automatic performance apparatus which creates an accompaniment pattern imparted with a user-desired musical modification. In this automatic performance apparatus, repeated reproduction is performed for one or more layers having performance events recorded therein among a plurality of layers in a recording area, when the recording switch is not being depressed. However, once the recording switch is depressed, performance events generated in response to user's performance operations are recorded into a layer newly designated by an operation of a layer change switch. In this way, it is possible to execute multiple recording where events generated in response to a performance executed in real time by the user while listening to reproduced sounds or tones of a previously-recorded performance.